Monday, October 12, 2015

...The Agony of Defeat

Sometimes it's so easy to feel dejected, living as I do in California. Everyone around me is insane politically--views that were mainstream, in both parties, during the Clinton Administration are now viewed as "wackjob conservative" now. It's enough to make me weep--or would be, if I weren't so certain of the rectitude of my own beliefs :-)

As an aside, does anyone but me find it funny that Hillary Clinton is running against both Barack Obama's policies and her husband's policies? Oh, sure, she wants people to feel nostalgic for the 1990s while running against those policies that made the 1990s something for which you might feel nostalgic. "The era of big government is over", anyone?

But I digress.

California is among the highest-taxed states in the union, and consistently has ranked among the worst environments in which to do business, and how does our government respond? By tackling a (not so) major problem, of course:

A week after a gunman killed nine people at an Oregon college,
California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Saturday that will ban
the carrying of concealed guns on school and university campuses in this
state.

Sen. Lois Wolk (D-Davis) said the bill she introduced
several months ago is needed to close a loophole that allows people with
concealed-weapons permits to carry firearms onto school grounds. The
bill prohibits that practice, unless school officials grant permission
or the carrier is retired from law enforcement.

Can anyone explain to me how, given that it's already illegal to kill people on school campuses, this law does anything other than to disarm potential targets? How many of these recent school shooters were concealed carry permit holders?

“California’s college campuses and K-12 schools should be sanctuaries
for learning, free from the fear of gun violence,” McCrum said, adding
the new law “will make schools safer and decrease students’ risk of
being injured or killed.”

See, people who think like that--I don't have anything in common with them. They're so far divorced from reality that the best I can do is walk away, shaking my head in disbelief that they're even able to find their asses when it's time to wipe.

California became the first state in the nation to pass a law
prohibiting public schools from using the term "Redskins" as a team name
or mascot.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday approved the measure
barring the use of the term that many Native Americans find offensive
but vetoed a separate measure that would have barred public properties
from being named after individuals associated with the Confederacy.

Working on the big issues of the day, that's your California government. You can laugh, but remember that, like a cancer, these "coastal" ideas spread to the heart of the country, and the time it takes to do so is getting less and less. Want an example? Remember when "Don't ask, don't tell" seemed reasonable if not center-left, especially when it was signed by a Democratic president? What word would be used today to describe a person who supports a return to DADT?

This is the world in which I live. I can't believe how often insanity wins here.